Sources of Newly Developed Land, by Region

Estimates presented here are based upon the latest information from the National Resources Inventory (NRI). The NRI is a longitudinal sample survey based upon scientific statistical principles and procedures. It is conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), in cooperation with Iowa State University’s Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology. These results are based upon the 2007 NRI, which provides nationally consistent data for the 25-year period 1982–2007. Estimates here cover the contiguous 48 states. Separate estimates include Hawaii, Alaska, and the Caribbean.

Margins of error are reported for each NRI estimate and must be considered at all scales of analysis. The margin of error is used to construct the 95 percent confidence interval for the estimate. The lower bound of the interval is obtained by subtracting the margin of error from the estimate; the upper bound is obtained by adding the margin of error to the estimate. A 95 percent confidence interval means that in repeated samples from the same population, 95 percent of the time the true underlying population parameter will be contained within the lower and upper bounds of the interval.

Table 31. Sources of Newly Developed Land, by Farm Production Region, in Thousands of Acres, with Margins of Error

Region

Year

Cropland

Pastureland

Rangeland

Forest Land

All Other

Total

Appalachian

1982 to 1987

243.0 ±25.4

230.3 ±36.9

0.0 --

634.5 ±54.4

25.8 ±7.2

1,133.6 ±64.6

1987 to 1992

290.8 ±27.8

264.3 ±45.5

0.0 --

629.4 ±41.8

25.1 ±5.7

1,209.6 ±76.4

1992 to 1997

348.1 ±23.3

381.9 ±44.7

0.0 --

919.0 ±57.6

64.1 ±12.9

1,713.1 ±86.9

1997 to 2002

283.6 ±41.9

315.4 ±52.0

0.0 --

1,000.7 ±82.4

30.2 ±11.0

1,629.9 ±98.6

2002 to 2007

193.5 ±39.8

194.0 ±41.2

0.0 --

660.9 ±63.0

33.3 ±10.4

1,081.7 ±95.1

1982 to 2007

1,475.5 ±101.7

1,384.5 ±115.8

0.0 --

3,753.3 ±186.4

154.6 ±19.3

6,767.9 ±267.9

Corn Belt

1982 to 1987

379.0 ±47.4

103.4 ±17.7

0.0 --

155.0 ±22.1

14.6 ±4.8

652.0 ±58.7

1987 to 1992

323.8 ±38.7

112.5 ±20.0

0.0 --

197.6 ±24.4

21.0 ±6.9

654.9 ±50.0

1992 to 1997

573.7 ±43.8

188.9 ±18.9

0.0 --

299.4 ±29.7

59.8 ±19.9

1,121.8 ±70.0

1997 to 2002

348.5 ±63.0

147.8 ±26.8

0.1 ±0.5

223.7 ±43.2

34.6 ±13.5

754.7 ±97.6

2002 to 2007

297.0 ±55.1

138.2 ±41.9

0.0 --

252.3 ±47.4

21.4 ±6.7

708.9 ±111.1

1982 to 2007

2,008.0 ±141.3

699.4 ±82.8

0.2 ±153.4

1,060.3 ±93.1

124.4 ±29.8

3,892.3 ±270.9

Delta States

1982 to 1987

78.6 ±12.8

65.3 ±12.4

1.4 ±2.2

130.3 ±22.1

3.8 ±2.8

279.4 ±28.1

1987 to 1992

53.8 ±9.5

69.6 ±17.0

0.4 ±0.5

141.2 ±17.8

2.8 ±1.5

267.8 ±28.7

1992 to 1997

117.2 ±21.8

132.1 ±24.6

2.3 ±2.2

274.3 ±39.6

11.4 ±4.0

537.3 ±56.8

1997 to 2002

64.4 ±19.9

140.1 ±28.8

1.1 ±3.8

279.5 ±52.1

13.2 ±5.4

498.3 ±62.5

2002 to 2007

53.4 ±17.7

105.2 ±22.5

3.5 ±13.7

250.2 ±47.2

13.1 ±3.5

425.4 ±55.6

1982 to 2007

433.5 ±46.9

515.9 ±58.9

8.7 ±18.8

1,012.2 ±102.4

37.9 ±8.5

2,008.2 ±126.4

Lake States

1982 to 1987

180.6 ±29.5

85.5 ±19.0

0.0 --

184.6 ±25.0

17.0 ±6.3

467.7 ±36.5

1987 to 1992

210.8 ±26.5

105.5 ±22.4

0.0 --

204.7 ±38.6

11.4 ±4.1

532.4 ±47.3

1992 to 1997

340.2 ±31.0

122.6 ±24.5

0.0 --

300.8 ±42.5

43.0 ±13.3

806.6 ±61.4

1997 to 2002

239.5 ±38.3

111.3 ±33.2

0.0 --

244.4 ±42.8

27.6 ±14.9

622.8 ±63.5

2002 to 2007

201.3 ±30.3

66.0 ±20.7

0.0 --

197.8 ±39.7

16.4 ±5.4

481.5 ±47.0

1982 to 2007

1,217.1 ±82.3

494.5 ±76.2

0.0 --

1,096.7 ±99.7

102.7 ±24.8

2,911.0 ±159.6

Mountain

1982 to 1987

167.9 ±55.0

47.2 ±12.9

292.8 ±85.6

59.1 ±33.8

24.2 ±17.7

591.2 ±118.7

1987 to 1992

118.6 ±29.4

58.1 ±21.3

237.6 ±62.6

67.5 ±27.3

31.5 ±19.3

513.3 ±75.2

1992 to 1997

165.1 ±31.1

70.8 ±19.9

344.2 ±76.4

58.5 ±22.1

33.9 ±14.2

672.5 ±85.5

1997 to 2002

239.5 ±84.5

55.4 ±17.7

625.1 ±211.7

173.2 ±108.6

52.5 ±39.0

1,145.7 ±304.4

2002 to 2007

214.3 ±74.6

69.2 ±59.6

494.8 ±136.0

55.9 ±15.3

13.2 ±5.0

847.4 ±192.0

1982 to 2007

1,011.4 ±166.1

265.3 ±90.7

1,978.5 ±351.0

400.9 ±121.1

114.0 ±42.7

3,770.1 ±487.1

Northeast

1982 to 1987

244.2 ±34.1

100.7 ±14.0

0.0 --

586.4 ±38.5

26.0 ±7.3

957.3 ±42.4

1987 to 1992

265.2 ±19.2

132.6 ±19.2

0.0 --

647.3 ±37.9

24.5 ±6.8

1,069.6 ±48.7

1992 to 1997

430.8 ±41.3

207.6 ±22.1

0.0 --

1,045.7 ±50.6

68.0 ±14.2

1,752.1 ±70.9

1997 to 2002

259.8 ±24.4

122.8 ±24.9

0.0 --

723.4 ±42.8

30.4 ±9.5

1,136.4 ±71.1

2002 to 2007

150.5 ±20.0

84.1 ±21.3

0.0 --

531.0 ±47.3

14.7 ±8.9

780.3 ±60.3

1982 to 2007

1,428.0 ±93.6

694.9 ±57.5

0.0 --

3,432.9 ±132.0

139.9 ±17.1

5,695.7 ±197.4

Northern Plains

1982 to 1987

48.5 ±13.6

6.9 ±3.1

14.8 ±5.4

3.2 ±1.7

0.7 ±0.5

74.1 ±16.2

1987 to 1992

122.4 ±33.8

27.7 ±13.9

40.3 ±11.0

9.2 ±4.5

9.3 ±6.6

208.9 ±42.9

1992 to 1997

114.5 ±18.6

28.4 ±8.2

69.5 ±21.5

22.1 ±9.4

7.1 ±5.5

241.6 ±32.6

1997 to 2002

83.3 ±22.3

15.8 ±6.8

31.9 ±12.1

16.8 ±12.2

5.9 ±3.8

153.7 ±28.0

2002 to 2007

67.9 ±19.3

14.6 ±12.0

22.9 ±8.5

17.9 ±14.2

4.6 ±2.5

127.9 ±32.2

1982 to 2007

441.2 ±60.6

93.4 ±24.7

182.9 ±36.2

68.4 ±22.3

20.3 ±6.9

806.2 ±89.0

Pacific

1982 to 1987

97.8 ±30.3

47.9 ±19.3

142.0 ±48.8

139.3 ±34.9

18.2 ±12.8

445.2 ±62.3

1987 to 1992

189.1 ±35.3

84.5 ±24.2

275.6 ±101.8

220.8 ±41.2

28.4 ±13.8

798.4 ±120.8

1992 to 1997

226.7 ±31.6

95.8 ±29.2

266.8 ±76.6

277.2 ±36.3

53.4 ±24.6

919.9 ±87.9

1997 to 2002

176.2 ±39.9

82.5 ±20.8

248.1 ±64.3

227.3 ±34.8

21.4 ±10.5

755.5 ±96.7

2002 to 2007

165.9 ±79.7

64.4 ±24.6

165.9 ±47.9

146.6 ±34.7

22.2 ±20.0

565.0 ±86.3

1982 to 2007

900.0 ±114.4

368.6 ±79.5

1,109.9 ±181.9

986.5 ±109.6

119.0 ±57.2

3,484.0 ±255.0

Southeast

1982 to 1987

169.3 ±38.7

113.3 ±21.9

77.5 ±25.3

542.3 ±44.9

20.2 ±11.6

922.6 ±61.9

1987 to 1992

229.2 ±46.6

231.0 ±46.4

119.6 ±40.6

791.3 ±66.3

33.8 ±14.7

1,404.9 ±102.0

1992 to 1997

295.4 ±39.1

369.2 ±65.9

112.3 ±39.3

1,310.7 ±74.0

84.4 ±21.6

2,172.0 ±113.8

1997 to 2002

201.0 ±42.1

377.3 ±78.5

94.6 ±124.9

1,158.6 ±97.3

46.6 ±38.8

1,878.1 ±145.7

2002 to 2007

158.5 ±38.3

332.6 ±145.9

64.5 ±36.8

931.3 ±105.3

23.5 ±5.7

1,510.4 ±169.3

1982 to 2007

1,282.2 ±155.3

1,291.6 ±235.6

527.9 ±173.9

4,593.5 ±269.0

192.8 ±57.4

7,888.0 ±371.9

Southern Plains

1982 to 1987

136.9 ±36.0

131.5 ±30.8

238.4 ±56.2

69.7 ±27.7

8.6 ±7.8

585.1 ±79.2

1987 to 1992

117.8 ±30.2

163.9 ±45.2

222.6 ±61.2

78.4 ±27.4

16.9 ±11.7

599.6 ±92.4

1992 to 1997

161.4 ±36.1

236.3 ±45.4

294.6 ±50.8

121.5 ±38.2

27.2 ±9.9

841.0 ±93.0

1997 to 2002

145.2 ±33.0

274.6 ±64.8

429.1 ±128.1

268.5 ±80.0

18.5 ±6.8

1,135.9 ±121.0

2002 to 2007

155.0 ±33.5

241.9 ±100.5

360.7 ±74.7

192.2 ±64.4

19.5 ±4.9

969.3 ±112.4

1982 to 2007

920.6 ±132.4

1,036.9 ±171.5

1,392.9 ±176.4

678.8 ±144.6

101.7 ±41.5

4,130.9 ±250.1

Notes:
• Cropland includes cultivated and non-cultivated cropland.
• All Other includes other rural land, water areas, Federal land, and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Land. CRP was not implemented until 1985.
• When the estimate is 0.0, margins of error are not applicable and shown as a dashed line (--).
• Instances where the margin of error is greater than or equal to the estimate are displayed in italics indicating that the confidence interval includes zero and that the estimate should not be used.